A MAN cleared of drug dealing yesterday pledged he would apologise to Scotland's most senior judge.

Mr Stephen Dormer, 37, said he was writing to say sorry to Lord McCluskey after a court heard that deadly rave drugs were found in a car owned by the judge's daughter.

Mr Dormer was speaking after being acquitted at Falkirk Sheriff Court of dealing in ecstasy.

He said: ''I'm relieved this is over. I would like to apologise to Lord McCluskey for the embarrassment caused.''

The court had heard the judge's daughter, Catherine, was the girlfriend of voluntary worker Dormer. Police told the court they found the ecstasy tablets in her car after Dormer crashed on a motorway.

Outside court, Mr Dormer said he and Miss McCluskey had been having a relationship for more than three years.

He said: ''We met while we were both doing voluntary work. Cath works for Citizens Advice and she is a wonderful, warm, loving, and caring person. She had absolutely nothing to do with this case.

''We still see each other but the relationship has been under strain because of this. I will be writing a letter to Lord McCluskey to apologise for the embarrassment that has been caused to him and his family.''

Mr Dormer walked free after Sheriff Tom Bannigan ruled the search of Miss McCluskey's car was unlawful.

Mr Dormer's lawyer, Mr Virgil Crawford, claimed Central Scotland Traffic Police did not have reasonable suspicion to search the vehicle.

Mr Dormer, of Adamson Place, Cornton, Stirling, denied being concerned in the supply of 40 ecstasy tablets between January 16 and 18, 1996, on the M9 Edinburgh-Perth motorway and elsewhere in Scotland.

Miss McCluskey, 33, of Edinburgh, had been cited to give evidence as a witness in Mr Dormer's trial but was spared an appearance in the witness box.

Before the trial got under way, a ''joint minute of agreement'' was agreed by the prosecution and the defence.

This meant her evidence - given in a statement - was accepted without question by both the prosecution and the defence.

Former police traffic constable Lynne Ferguson had told the trial she attended an accident on the M9 near Larbert, Stirlingshire, in January 1996.

She said a car had come off the motorway, somersaulted, and ended up about 200 yards into a field. It was upside down on its roof.

Mr Dormer was sitting on the side of the motorway.

''He was very agitated. He had blood coming from his forehead.''

Ms Ferguson told the court Mr Dormer's behaviour was ''very unusual'' in an accident victim: ''He seemed unsure as to what he should do. I was beginning to think there was something in the vehicle that he wanted to retrieve.

''I didn't think it would be something innocent.''

Mr Dormer was taken to Stirling Royal Infirmary and kept overnight.

Traffic Constable Gregor McFarlane said the car was a ''complete wreck''. Mr McFarlane said an ambulance arrived but Mr Dormer had gone back into the muddy field to the wrecked car.

He said: ''He was crouching down, looking in the car. I asked him what he was looking for. He didn't answer.

''I had to physically lead him away from the vehicle to the ambulance.

''His behaviour was very odd.''